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Announcements
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Products
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Chevy, GMC Trucks Recalled
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General Motors has issued a recall of 6,800 2011 Chevrolet
Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks due to "inaccurate shift-lever
readings." According to the company, the transmission selector in
the trucks may appear to be in park, but the vehicle could still roll
away. The company said it is not clear if any accidents have been
associated with the problem. Christopher Jensen, The New York
Times 07/01/2011
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Read Article: The New York Times
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Laws/Cases
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$22 Million Award Vacated Due to
Arbitrator's Failure to Disclose Contact
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Dallas' 5th Court of Appeals has vacated and remanded a
$22 million arbitration award after finding the arbitrator failed to
disclose that a lawyer representing a party in the dispute had given
him a ticket to an NBA basketball game, a wine basket and paid for
expensive meals, among other things. The June 28 opinion in Robert C.
Karlseng, et al. v. H. Jonathan Cooke focuses on a number of social
contacts between JAMS arbitrator Robert Faulkner, a former U.S.
magistrate judge, and Brett Johnson, a partner in the Dallas office of
Fish & Richardson — contacts Faulkner did not disclose after
Johnson appeared in front of him in an arbitration case on behalf of a
client. John Council, Texas Lawyer 06/30/2011
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Read Article: Texas Lawyer
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Alleged Defect Spurs GM Class-Action Lawsuit
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A class-action suit has been filed against General Motors
Co., complaining that GM fixed rear-end problems on police versions of
2007-08 Impalas, but not those owned by some 400,000 other drivers. The
problem, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Detroit,
causes owners to burn through rear tires. The suit was brought on
behalf of a Pennsylvania woman and wants GM to replace potentially
faulty rear suspension rods. The Detroit-based automaker sold 423,000
Impalas over the two-year period. DAVID SHEPARDSON, Detroit
News 07/05/2011
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Read Article: Detroit News
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Amtrak Blamed in Latest Suit Over
Deadly NV Crash
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An Amtrak attendant trying to lead passengers from a
burning train hit by a truck in the Nevada desert says in a new lawsuit
that survivors had to double back past dead bodies in a smoky car and
jump out a window because their initial escape route was blocked by a
locked baggage car door. Just moments before the June 24 crash that
left six dead, Lana Dickerson had been working alongside a co-worker
who was killed when she was thrust into the "carnage" with a number
of passengers whom she "personally attended to both before and
after the disaster," one of her lawyers said Monday. SCOTT
SONNER Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News 07/05/2011
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Read Article: San Jose Mercury News
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Suit: NY Girl Dragged off Bus and
Left at Wrong School
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A New York mother has filed a lawsuit against the state's
Department of Education and a matron on a local school bus who
allegedly forced a young girl off the bus at a stop that wasn't hers.
The suit claims the girl was "dragged off a special-education bus
in the Bronx by an angry matron and left sobbing in the lobby of the
wrong school." The lawsuit also names the bus company as a
defendant, saying it has a history of child-safety infractions. Kevin
Deutsch , New York Daily News 07/05/2011
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Read Article: New York Daily News
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Bayer to Pay $750 Million in
Genetic Rice Lawsuit
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Bayer CropScience has agreed to pay $750 million to
farmers in five Midwestern states in a lawsuit over contaminated rice.
The lawsuit claims that when LibertyLink genetically modified rice was
discovered in the 2006 rice crop, it had not yet been approved for
human consumption. As a result, foreign countries banned the importing
of American rice, and rice futures plummeted. Under terms of the
settlement, "farmers who planted at least 85 percent of the
roughly 2.2 million acres of rice during [2006-2010] must sign up or
Bayer can walk away from the deal." Robert Patrick, St.
Louis Post Dispatch 07/02/2011
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Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch
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Judge: Suit Against JPMorgan to Go
Forward
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A U.S. District Judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit
against JPMorgan Chase & Co. that accused the company of
"reducing or suspending home-equity lines of credit without a
permissible reason." The judge, however, did dismiss fraud and
"unjust enrichment" claims against the bank. The lawsuit,
filed by a group of homeowners, claimed the company reduced the amount
of money they could borrow against their homes. Jochelle
Mendonca and Abhishek Takle, Reuters 07/05/2011
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Read Article: Reuters
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WaMu Settles Class-Action Investor
Lawsuit
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Washington Mutual Inc. has agreed to a $208.5 million
settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by its investors. The
lawsuit, a consolidation of more than 20 cases, claimed the company
"secretly lowered lending standards, artificially inflated
home-price appraisals and failed to disclose its deteriorating
financial condition when the loans began to fail." The lead
plaintiff in the case was the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg 07/01/2011
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Read Article: Bloomberg
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Issues
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New FAA Rules to Combat Controller
Fatigue
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The FAA announced new steps to help prevent air traffic
controllers from falling asleep on the job, including allowing
controllers to use sick or annual leave time if they are too tired to
work. Controllers will also now be allowed to listen to the radio and
read to help stay alert during overnight shifts when traffic is light,
under an agreement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic
Controllers Assn. However, the policy changes don't allow controllers
to take naps while on break or to schedule naps during overnight shifts
even though sleep scientists say that's the most effective way to
refresh tired workers. Associated Press, LA Times 07/05/2011
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Read Article: LA Times
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